Russia planned operations to hinder Finland and Sweden from joining NATO. Moscow prepared a campaign involving incitement to demonstrations in these countries, along with other actions.
This information comes from a secret intelligence report obtained by Finnish media Yle.
The journalists received a classified report detailing the plans of Russian intelligence services to organize campaigns of persecution under the pretext of demonstrations before Finland and Sweden joined NATO.
"The plan is revealed in a note prepared by a Russian intelligence officer, which was initially passed on to the Investigative Reporting Center 'Dossier'," the publication states.
According to the plans, violent demonstrations following the burning of the Quran in Sweden heightened fears of Islam in European Union countries. The document mentions orders to further escalate such tension.
In this way, Russian special services intended to increase "friction" between Turkey and European countries and NATO.
Law enforcement confirmed that they were aware of Russian intelligence's plans to incite demonstrations in Finland.
It is worth noting that in the documents obtained by Yle journalists, there is no evidence that Russia successfully implemented such plans in Finland.
The plans of Russian intelligence agencies include various methods for organizing persecution campaigns. Among them are:
- Planned demonstrations in major European cities mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan.
- Applying a maximum amount of graffiti and writings against Islam and ErdoÄŸan on walls in well-known locations in the EU.
- Widely spreading footage of demonstrations on social media.
- Conducting planned demonstrations, as specified in the published materials of Russian intelligence.
In addition to the document outlining the plans, journalists obtained a report on the executed operation. This report provides detailed documentation of a Russian persecution campaign that took place in the center of Paris in March 2023. At that time, demonstrations against Islam and Turkey were organized in the city.
Information about Russia's plans was leaked to the Investigative Reporting Center "Dossier" in portions, at the end of the previous year and in the spring of 2023.
